Five Ways to Improve Your Online Reputation
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2 03.2013 | www.DENTALECONOMICS.com FEATURE GO TO www.dentaleconomics.com for more articles like this. BY LANCE M C COLLOUGH FIVE SECRETS TO IMPROVE YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION W e’ve all said it. We con- stantly think it. en it happens. So, what do you do when the “it will never happen to me” turns into “what do I do now?” Eventually, reputation manage- ment becomes an issue for every business owner. Here are five insider secrets that will help you avert your reputation crisis: 1. GOOGLE ALERTS: Signing up for Google Alerts allows you to receive notifications every time your predefined keywords are mentioned on the web. Simply go to www.google.com/alerts and input que- ries you wish to be notified about (e.g., your practice name, your name, etc.), how often you want to be notified, and provide the email address where the alerts should be sent. 2. ENCOURAGE FEEDBACK: Feedback builds credibility, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. Positive reviews online can help boost search engine rankings, provide new patients with a sense of trust, and help quiet the nega- tivity of one unsettling review. An exorbitant amount of negative feedback is bad, very bad. But the occa- sional bad review is not the end-all and be-all of your reputation. ough unde- sirable, responding to a negative review in a courteous, professional manner shows patients that you care and want to solve the issue at hand. An absence of online reviews is also a red flag. Without a solid understanding of other patient experiences, prospects feel like a practice without reviews is more of a gamble. us, they are less like- ly to select said practice as their provider. Don’t forget about moderating your blog comments. Your practice blog is a great way to educate patients and pros- pects about your services; however, if for- mer patients are leaving negative com- ments about their experiences, you may inadvertently be losing new patients. Luckily, blog engines allow administra- tors to moderate comments. Changing your settings and requiring comments to be approved before they are published could prevent you from unknowingly perpetuating negative feedback. 3. REALIZE IT TAKES ONLY ONE FATAL FLAW: Major corporations have had their fair share of meltdowns and know it takes only one negative customer ex- perience to explode online, causing sig- nificant damage to their reputation. When large companies experience negative feedback that goes viral, they promptly respond to the problem, ad- mit they did wrong, vow it won’t hap- pen again, and revamp their procedures. Should you suffer the setback of viral negativity, follow mega-corporations and take responsibility — “right” your “wrong” — and generate a plan to pre- vent the situation from reoccurring. Just as the initial negative complaint was publicized online, publicize your renewed customer service policy, and re- member to always provide patients with superior care. 4. USE AVAILABLE RESOURCES: ere are free online resources that can help you build your personal online repu- tation. Brand Yourself is a self-guided reputation management firm that allows users to control the spending they put toward personal reputation manage- ment link building. A free account with the company enables users to influence the Google search results for their cho- sen name. e user can then link profiles, add backlinks, and manipulate their pages to help rank desired pages while bumping less favorable pages down in the search engine results. To start your free account, go to https://brandyour- self.com/. 5. CONSIDER A REPUTATION MANAGE- MENT PROFESSIONAL: A good reputa- tion can take years to build, and you do not want to let negative online reviews destroy it. To prevent this, you may want to consider hiring a company such as Demandforce. is type of professional reputation management improves pa- tient satisfaction and your online repu- tation by allowing you to personally re- spond to unhappy patient reviews. is service helps to deter negative public- ity from being circulated online for pro- spective patients to see. Remember to continually monitor what Internet users are saying about your brand. With the ever-increasing popularity of on- line review sites, it’s no longer a matter of “if ” but “when” you receive your first nega- tive patient review. When that time comes, you will want to respond with integrity to keep your online reputation glowing, but you will also want to adapt your services and professional approach to prevent a situation in the future. LANCE MCCOLLOUGH is the founder and CEO of ProSites, a leading website design and Internet marketing company for dental professionals. ProSites helps doctors attract new patients and grow their practices through innovative website solutions, search engine optimization, mobile websites, social media, and local search marketing strategies. To learn more, visit www.ProSites.com or call (888) 332-2114.
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Wrote article for Dental Economics Magazine to help dentists understand how to better manage their online reputation.
Transcript of Five Ways to Improve Your Online Reputation
2 03.2013 | www.dentaleconomics.com
FEATURE Go to
www.dentaleconomics.comfor more articles like this.
b y L a n c e M c c o L L o u g h
Five secrets to improve your online reputation
We’ve all said it. We con-stantly think it. Then it happens. So, what do you do when the “it will never happen to me” turns into “what do I
do now?” Eventually, reputation manage-ment becomes an issue for every business owner. Here are five insider secrets that will help you avert your reputation crisis: 1. googLe aLerts: Signing up for Google
Alerts allows you to receive notifications every time your predefined keywords are mentioned on the web. Simply go to www.google.com/alerts and input que-ries you wish to be notified about (e.g., your practice name, your name, etc.), how often you want to be notified, and provide the email address where the alerts should be sent.
2. encourage feedback: Feedback builds credibility, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. Positive reviews online can help boost search engine rankings, provide new patients with a sense of trust, and help quiet the nega-tivity of one unsettling review.
An exorbitant amount of negative feedback is bad, very bad. But the occa-sional bad review is not the end-all and be-all of your reputation. Though unde-sirable, responding to a negative review in a courteous, professional manner shows patients that you care and want to solve the issue at hand.
An absence of online reviews is also a red flag. Without a solid understanding of other patient experiences, prospects feel like a practice without reviews is more of a gamble. Thus, they are less like-ly to select said practice as their provider.
Don’t forget about moderating your blog comments. Your practice blog is a great way to educate patients and pros-pects about your services; however, if for-mer patients are leaving negative com-ments about their experiences, you may inadvertently be losing new patients. Luckily, blog engines allow administra-tors to moderate comments. Changing your settings and requiring comments to be approved before they are published could prevent you from unknowingly perpetuating negative feedback.
3. reaLize it takes onLy one fataL fLaw: Major corporations have had their fair share of meltdowns and know it takes only one negative customer ex-perience to explode online, causing sig-nificant damage to their reputation.
When large companies experience negative feedback that goes viral, they promptly respond to the problem, ad-mit they did wrong, vow it won’t hap-pen again, and revamp their procedures. Should you suffer the setback of viral negativity, follow mega-corporations and take responsibility — “right” your “wrong” — and generate a plan to pre-vent the situation from reoccurring. Just as the initial negative complaint was publicized online, publicize your renewed customer service policy, and re-member to always provide patients with superior care.
4. use avaiLabLe resources: There are free online resources that can help you build your personal online repu-tation. Brand Yourself is a self-guided reputation management firm that allows users to control the spending they put toward personal reputation manage-
ment link building. A free account with the company enables users to influence the Google search results for their cho-sen name. The user can then link profiles, add backlinks, and manipulate their pages to help rank desired pages while bumping less favorable pages down in the search engine results. To start your free account, go to https://brandyour-self.com/.
5. consider a reputation Manage-Ment professionaL: A good reputa-tion can take years to build, and you do not want to let negative online reviews destroy it. To prevent this, you may want to consider hiring a company such as Demandforce. This type of professional reputation management improves pa-tient satisfaction and your online repu-tation by allowing you to personally re-spond to unhappy patient reviews. This service helps to deter negative public-ity from being circulated online for pro-spective patients to see.
Remember to continually monitor what Internet users are saying about your brand. With the ever-increasing popularity of on-line review sites, it’s no longer a matter of “if ” but “when” you receive your first nega-tive patient review. When that time comes, you will want to respond with integrity to keep your online reputation glowing, but you will also want to adapt your services and professional approach to prevent a situation in the future.
Lance MccoLLough is the founder and CEO of ProSites, a leading website design and Internet marketing company for dental professionals. ProSites helps doctors attract new patients and grow
their practices through innovative website solutions, search engine optimization, mobile websites, social media, and local search marketing strategies. To learn more, visit www.ProSites.com or call (888) 332-2114.
